JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Title: Animal Specialist II
Job Code: 002153
Salary Plan:
Lab: BL3 Lab
Direct Supervisor: Amy Barzcak
Employing Hospital and Department:
Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard
Minimum degree and field of knowledge: BS/BA
Years experience required: 0 – 2 years experience
Summary:
Job responsibilities to include standard daily mouse husbandry, including mouse health checks, provision
of food/water, cage changes, cage sterilization. This position involves daily exposure to laboratory
animals, their waste products, and possibly chemical agents, and work with mice infected with biosafety
level 3 agents. Additional job requirements include reviewing and stocking supplies for the main BSL3,
ordering, validation of autoclave function, eyewash checks, general facility tidying, media preparation.
Some weekend and holiday work hours are required.
PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Following Duties are performed daily with minimal supervision:
Provides Facility Maintenance and Sanitization.
o Provides Animal Husbandry Tasks.
o Provides Animal Health Monitoring.
o Performs Facility Support Functions.
o Works within a team environment.
o Additional husbandry duties may include:
Working with team to address non-standard husbandry requests.
Perform containment and monitoring duties in the case of infection or disease health outbreaks or
other bio-containment situations.
• Able to perform husbandry and health monitoring of animals in ABSL3 areas.
o Works within prescribed protocols for chemical and biological hazards.
 Houses incoming or newly arrived animals.
o Performs initial inspections and ensures that they are acclimated and appear physiologically stable
prior to research initiation.
o Transfers animals to cages/pens per SOP.
o Documents and electronically processes new arrivals.
• _Provides Research Support Services.
Support services may include the following:
o Serves as a resource to investigators in the preparation and conduct of their approved protocols.
o Monitors and ensures that post-operative procedures are in compliance with MGH policies and the
Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.
o Provide drug administration to research animals.
o Takes and prepares biologic samples for testing: blood, tissue, urine, and fecal.
o Able to provide specialized technical assistance to investigators as requested.
• Collect and prepare sentinel samples for processing and evaluation.
• Orders and receives facility supplies, monitoring material replenishment systems.
Responsible for the creation, validation and maintenance of visual controls within the facility.
Creates and helps evaluate SOP drafts.
Comply with CCM and MGH policies and standard operating procedures.
The above job description details the major duties and qualifications of the listed position. The
employee hired to this position confirms that he/she is able to perform all duties outlined.
Although the specific duties and responsibilities of this position may vary slightly, the supervisor
of this position will ensure that the employee hired to this position is trained and qualified to
complete each task assigned. If the duties or responsibilities of this position need to change
significantly, then the supervisor must submit an updated job description to the Office Manager
for review.
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